Duncton villagers celebrate introduction of speed restrictions

Duncton villagers are celebrating the arrival of their hard-fought-for 30mph speed restrictions on the busy A285 through the centre of the village.

The new signs are now in place at the bottom of Duncton Hill, extending through the village and stopping quarter of a mile from the northern edge of the parish boundary.

“We are thrilled and delighted,” said parish council chairman Marie Bracey.

“Already we have noticed vehicles are going slower, especially as all the locals are trying very hard to stick to the new limit and the more people driving slower, the more others stick to the limit too.”

“I have been chairman for five years and the village had been battling for the speed limit for some years before that – first they had to get the 40mph limit, which was before my time on the council.

“We are all delighted with this new speed limit, it’s something very positive for Duncton.”

She said the new speed limit would be strengthened by vehicle-activated signs which were due to be installed at the end of May.

There would be one at the bottom of Duncton Hill and two in the centre of the village for north and south-bound traffic.

But Mrs Bracey warned motorists would face temporary road closures on the section of the A285 next month when resurfacing work was carried out. She said the carriageway from just south of Beechwood Lane was to be re-surfaced, with a high-quality surface northwards to just short of the entrance to Seaford College.

The road would be closed during the day at off-peak times, but would not be affected at the weekends.

Nine days have been chosen to avoid dates at Goodwood. These are 9.30am to 4pm each day from May 9 to May 13 and May 16 and 17 which will cater for resurfacing work.

The road will also be closed on May 19 and 20 from 9.30am to 4pm for road marking and road studs to be installed.

In addition a £60,000 road improvement scheme by West Sussex County Council is currently taking place on the A285 at Duncton which includes unblocking and installing new drainpipes and road widening.

Temporary two-way and three-way traffic signals are in operation for the duration of the present scheme which is expected to take up to four weeks to complete depending on the weather. It is being carried out from Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 5pm.